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In-Depth Information
such tendencies. Middle-class youth have responded to national crises
by sacking Jewish neighborhoods of Buenos Aires in 1919 and joining
right-wing groups such as the Argentina Patriotic League and later the
Catholic Action. Even Mario Firmenich, the accomplished and edu-
cated leader of the Montoneros, displayed little commitment to demo-
cratic principles in his leadership of guerrilla terrorists. Undoubtedly,
the military serves as the greatest middle-class repository of authori-
tarian values. Time and again, army officers appointed themselves as
“guarantors” of the constitution and “saviors” of the nation. Whenever
workers promoted “chaos,” military units sprang into action. Not all
labor bosses consistently demonstrated support for democracy, either.
Many ran their unions with iron fists and appeared willing to work with
the most reactionary regimes.
As for violence, the lengthy warfare between the colonists and the
native peoples justified its use. The ever-present danger to the colonists
encouraged authoritarian leadership demanding total allegiance to the
chieftain. Later, when the Creole caudillos of the post-independence
period disputed control of resources among themselves, they resorted to
violence to settle issues. Power flowed to he who successfully devoured
the competitors, such as caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas, who was not
above summary execution and using thugs to intimidate opponents. The
use of state terror by Rosas unfortunately had its 20th-century corollary
in the Dirty War.
Patotas
acted as the modern-day
Mazorca,
disappear-
ing those who threatened the “unity” of the nation. In the final analysis,
political violence has survived into the 21st century.
The reader may have discerned in these pages the linkage between
colonial and postcolonial corruption in politics. From the 17th-century
governor who colluded with ship captains to import illegal cargoes to
the modern-day entrepreneur who conspires with public officials to
import luxury automobiles duty-free, from the 19th-century politician
who used his rank to claim huge tracts of frontier land to modern-day
politicos who bill foreign buyers millions of dollars for their services in
privatization, the country's leaders have enriched themselves in public
service. One element has changed over time, however: The modern
opportunities for graft would make the colonial administrator envious.
As the state grew more powerful and the foreign lenders more willing,
the payoff increased faster than the international debt. Yet as in the past,
few corrupt functionaries or purveyors of violence have had to answer
for their crimes.
The authoritarian impulse historically has emasculated the nation's
judiciary. Argentina does not lack for lawyers, to be sure, but justice
